Overview

What We Do

UNDP helps countries across the Arab region to build and share their own solutions to development challenges within UNDP’s four main focus areas: Poverty Reduction and Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, Democratic Governance, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, and Environment and Sustainable Development. UNDP’s work also emphasizes the priority concerns of HIV/AIDS, gender equality, and the protection of human rights, while addressing as well the human development deficits identified by the first series of the Arab Human Development Report — in knowledge, freedom, and women’s empowerment.

Our Goals

UNDP’s activities in the Arab States region build on UNDP’s five thematic priorities, with additional emphasis placed on addressing the main impediments to human development in the region as identified by the Arab Human Development Report series, namely freedom and good governance, knowledge, and women’s empowerment. View More

Building and Sharing Solutions

UNDP is a solution-oriented, knowledge-based development organization, supporting countries to reach their own development objectives and internationally agreed goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Our Stories

Inayat Nageeb in her lingerie shop, a business she was able to start thanks to a grant from DEEP. Through her business, she has doubled her family's income. (Photo: UNDP PAPP)
Woman lifts her family out of poverty in the West Bank

Starting a business with limited resources in East Jerusalem, West Bank, is a challenge — especially for women. For Inayat Nageeb, a housewife and a mother More

UNDP in Egypt
Adapting technology to local needs in Egypt

By Marwa Elnokrashy and Karim Ezzeldin Siwa, Egypt—Fatma Ibrahim, a poor mother of six, has been illiterate all her life. As a child her hardworking parents More

UNDP in Tunisia
Women play major role in Tunisia's historic election

Azza Badra was one of thousands of women in Tunisia who competed for a seat in the country’s national elections on 23 October, the first since the More

UNDP in Sudan
More water, better lives for Sudanese farmers

Until recently, farmers in northeast Sudan used to rely solely on rainfall for their subsistence crops, despite fertile land and groundwater close to the surface. More

Regional Projects and Initiatives

Anti-Corruption and Integrity in the Arab Countries (ACIAC)

Qatar and UNDP signed an agreement specifying the financial contributions Qatar will make to UNDP’s "Anti-Corruption and Integrity in the Arab Countries" (ACIAC) project – an initiative that brings together multiple stakeholders in the region, including governments, civil society organizations, businesses and international development partners, to take collective action against corruption. More

The Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (POGAR)

The Programme on Governance in the Arab Region -POGAR- supported key regional and national governance institutions to address governance needs and concerns, with the aim of enhancing good governance practice and governance reform in the Arab world. POGAR’s activities ranged from promoting policy dialogue and creating strategic partnerships, to capacity building and knowledge sharing among government officials, civil society organizations, academics and donor agencies. More

Water Governance Programme for Arab States (WGP-AS)

The goal of the Water Governance Programme for Arab States (WGP-AS) is to improve the effective use and management of scarce water resources in Arab countries. It aims at supporting the achievements of the MDG 7 particularly with respect to improved water supply and sanitation, by promoting an integrated approach to water resources management in the Arab Region. The WGP-AS acts as a catalyst for effective water governance in the region. More

HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS)

UNDP’s support in the regional-level fight against this epidemic is led by the HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS). Launched to heighten awareness and build commitment to scale up prevention measures to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region, HARPAS works with a broad range of partners including religious leaders, NGOs, parliamentarians, the media, the private sector, and people living with HIV/AIDS. More

Arab Climate Resilience Initiative (ACRI)

The objective ACRI is to support and build resolve among national partners and regional stakeholders to formulate integrated, cross-sectoral and regional responses to the challenges of climate change and to facilitate practical and cooperative adaptation to ongoing and future impacts, whilst furthering gains in human development in the Arab countries. More

Our Perspective

Latest News

A New Somalia

The political transition is a significant turning point in Somalia's history and presents an opportunity for real positive change in the war-torn nation. This video presents the voices of hope of Somalis living and working in Mogadishu, from the Deputy Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament, to artists, students and IDPs.

This is a flickr slide show

View more on Flickr

Rethinking Economic Growth

Rethinking Economic Growth: Towards Productive and Inclusive Arab Societies

The report examines Arab labour market trends and structures over the two decades leading up to the Arab Spring in 2011, offering insights into the underlying causes for the uprisings that have since spread from Tunisia across the Arab world.

Many of UNDP's relationships with countries and territories on the ground exceed 60 years. Find details on our successes and ongoing work.

Regional Presence

UNDP in Arab States